Far East Gallery
Chinese antiques dealer since 1996 . Collector since 1976
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Chinese Ceramics
Chinese ceramics have a history of about 12-14 thousand years. The earliest New Stone Age earthenware (pottery) was first made around 10,000-12,000 B.C. in Xianren Cave in Southern China. Porcelain was invented again in Southern China during Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 A.D.). In Europe, porcelain was invented in the 18th century. There were also thousands of kilns scattered all over ancient China. These kilns made ceramics (earthenware, stoneware and porcelain) with special characteristics which differed dynasty by dynasty. Therefore Chinese ceramics show great variety in terms of clay, glaze, pigment, shape, decorative motives, etc. from kiln to kiln and from dynasty to dynasty. The Chinese continue to make ceramics up to this day.
View Catalogue (Ceramics)Chinese Jade Relics
Nephrite jade boulders were worked into various shapes and sizes using sand as abrasive as early as 7,000-8,000 years ago in the north-eastern part of China now known as Cha Hai. Since then, Chinese jade “carvings?(they are actually ground down by sand, not carved by a steel knife) continue to be made to this day. Nephrite is actually a very hard stone, harder than steel. On the Mohs scale, its hardness is 6.0 to 6.5. The hardness of steel is about 5.0 to 5.5 Mohs. The hardness of diamond is 10, that of sapphire and ruby is 9, jadeite is 6.5 to 7.0 and sand is about 7 Mohs. Hence grinding a jade boulder into shape with fine decorative motifs takes a very long time, much patience and perseverance.
View Catalogue (Jade)Chinese Brush Paintings
Compared with Chinese ceramics, jade and bronze ware, the history of Chinese brush painting is relatively short. The earliest known Chinese paintings came from two Chu state (one of the Warring States, 475-221 B.C.) tombs. They were silk paintings. Paper was not yet invented then. Earlier than silk paintings are rock paintings and paintings on Neolithic earthenware. Up to about the Tang dynasty (618-907 A.D.), human figures such as emperors, Toaist deities and Buddhist figures dominate. Landscape paintings and flower-and-birds paintings reached their peak during the Song and Yuan dynasties. Chinese paintings declined in innovativeness from the Ming dynasty onwards.
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